Households praised for effort to put right items in recycle bins

Back in October, one in five recycling bins were being rejected for collection due to the wrong items being mixed up with the waste.

Angry householders suggested the council was being too strict but the authority stuck to its guns, now numbers of green-lidded recycle bins for plastic, metal and glass collected between February 28 and March 4 show 97 per cent were accepted and emptied, up from 96.5 per cent the previous month.

The figure has steadily improved - 96 per cent in January and 94 per cent in December, despite the seasonal items that often cause confusion.

A crucial drive began in September to improve the contents of recycling bins when a third of what was collected in green-lidded bins was the wrong material - either items which could not be recycled or things which were dirty or damp and likely to contaminate other good quality recycling. The council said this was causing a burden on the management of waste and associated costs as well as on the environment was more waste was having to be incinerated.

That contamination level has now reduced to 14 per cent and correct recycling is found in most green-lidded bins.

An amazing 99.8 per cent of purple and purple-lidded bins presented are emptied on average each month in North Kesteven because they contain only clean and dry paper and cardboard.

Council leader Coun Richard Wright said: “These figures show just how positive and impactful every person and household’s actions are in North Kesteven when it comes to our waste and recycling.

“Clearly our residents are working incredibly hard to keep putting only the right things in the right bins as best they can, despite all the pressures they face day to day, and I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who is doing so.

He reminded people that soft plastics such as carrier bags and crisp packets cannot go in recycling bins, but can go to collection points in shops able to recycle them though their own processes. If not put in the black bin.

For more information visit www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/recycling